Preview: Northern Illinois at Massachusetts

October 31, 2013|Reuters

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Preview: Northern Illinois at Massachusetts

No. 20 Northern Illinois has achieved its highest ranking of the season heading into Saturday's Mid-American Conference game at Massachusetts. The undefeated Huskies, who have won 20 of their last 21 games, shouldn't have a problem with a Massachusetts team it defeated 63-0 a year ago. Jordan Lynch continues to light up opposing defenses through the air and on the ground, and recently became the tenth player in FBS history to surpass 3,000 yards rushing and 4,000 yards passing in a career.

The Minutemen are coming off a heart-breaking 31-30 defeat to Western Michigan, in which head coach Charley Molnar opted for a two-point conversion attempt down by one point with 22 seconds remaining. The attempt failed, leaving the Minutemen with a 2-18 record since joining the FBS last season. "Sometimes you feel good about your kicking game," Molnar told reporters. "I felt why put it in a guy (Blake Lucas) who was unsuccessful his last time on the field. I knew we could make the point-after, but we didn't want it to come down to field goals in overtime."

TV: Noon ET, ESPN3. LINE: Northern Illinois -23.5.

ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS (8-0, 4-0 MAC): Lynch has accounted for 18 passing touchdowns, and a team-leading eight rushing touchdowns for the Huskies, whose most recent loss was to Florida State in last season's Orange Bowl. Cameron Stingily is second to Lynch in rushing yards (726) and rushing touchdowns (seven), and Tommylee Lewis and Da'Ron Brown have a combined 91 catches for 987 yards and 10 touchdowns. No other player has more than three touchdowns for the Huskies.

ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS (1-7, 1-3 MAC): Lucas made all three extra-points against Western Michigan, but missed two of three field-goal attempts, including a 22-yard boot early in the fourth quarter. Rob Blanchflower led the offense with a career-high 131 yards receiving on seven catches. "We can not afford too much time looking back," Molnar told reporters. "We have what might be the best team on our schedule in front of us this week. We tried to close the book on Saturday's game and turned all of our preparations toward Northern Illinois."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Lynch holds the record for most rushing yards in a game (316) for FBS quarterbacks.

2. Blanchflower is 14 yards shy of become the school's all-time leader in reception yards by a tight end.

3. Massachusetts' Khary Bailey-Smith returned the opening kick-off 90 yards for a touchdown last week.